i FAKE NEWS AND COVID-19 INFORMATION VERIFICATION PRACTICES AMONGST SOCIAL MEDIA USERS AND NON-USERS IN ACCRA. DERRICK M. DEGBOE (10110377) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE IN SOCIOLOGY. MARCH 2022 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii DECLARATION I, DERRICK M. DEGBOE, hereby declare that this thesis is an original research undertaken by me. Except for references to other people’s work which have been duly acknowledged, this thesis has neither in part nor in whole been presented for another degree elsewhere. s March 28, 2022. DERRICK MENSAH DEGBOE DATE (STUDENT) March 28, 2022. DR KODZOVI AKPABLI-HONU DATE (PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR) March 28, 2022. DR RABIU ASANTE DATE (CO-SUPERVISOR) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii ABSTRACT It has been widely observed by the World Health Organization that the Covid-19 pandemic simultaneously exists with an “infodemic”, a term adopted to mean the abundance of misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic. This study sought to investigate how Ghanaian social media users and non-users in Accra verified the views they held about the Covid-19 virus and pandemic. To guide the fulfilment of this objective, the study used Mead’s theory of self-indication and Parson’s social action theory to explain why people held misinformed views about the Covid-19 pandemic, why they chose to verify certain pieces of information whilst acting on others without verification, and how they verified information. The study was qualitative in nature and data was obtained through in-depth interviews with twenty participants in Accra, ten of whom were social media users and ten of whom were non-social media users. The study found that in addition to holding medically-endorsed views on Covid- 19, most participants held views that have been dismissed as inaccurate at best or harmful at worst. Some of these views were that the Covid-19 virus is a deliberate human creation, that the sun provided protection for Ghanaians against Covid-19, and that local remedies such as neem tree and saline were effective in protecting one from contracting the virus and for treatment. The main reason for the prevalence of misinformation amongst participants was that most participants usually shared any received information with others without verifying because they trusted the source of information. Participants only verified information on Covid- 19 if the information was opposed to their existing views, had substantial consequences if false or true, or due to a recognition that misinformation is rampant. For participants who used social media, checking the internet for concordant information was the main means of verification. For participants who did not use social media, verification mainly occurred by waiting for the information to be corroborated by traditional media sources. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv DEDICATION Dedicated to my parents Olivia Gasu Tsetse and Johnson Degboe (deceased) both retired teachers who taught me the value of education from an early age. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The completion of this study could not have been possible without the expertise of Dr Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu and Dr Rabiu Asante my thesis supervisors. I express my sincere gratitude to all my lecturers as well. I owe a debt of gratitude to my mates; Ishmael, Ophelia, Prosper and Sandra. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ viii CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background of the Study ............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Statement of the problem: ........................................................................................... 4 1.3 Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................... 5 1.3.1 Main Objective: ................................................................................................... 5 1.3.2 Specific Objectives: ............................................................................................. 5 1.4 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 6 1.5 Organization of the Study ........................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................................... 9 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Introduction: ................................................................................................................ 9 2.2 Understanding Fake News .......................................................................................... 9 2.3 Fake News and Covid-19 ............................................................................................... 13 2.4 Information Verification in the Context of Fake News ............................................ 16 2.5 Social Media and Covid-19: ...................................................................................... 18 2.6 Social Media Users versus Non-Users ...................................................................... 22 2.7 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 23 2.7.1 Self-Indication; a Symbolic Interactionist Perspective ...................................... 24 2.7.2 Talcott Parsons’ Theory of Social Action: ......................................................... 27 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................. 30 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 30 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 30 3.2 Research Design ........................................................................................................ 30 3.3 Study Area ................................................................................................................. 32 3.4 Sample Size ............................................................................................................... 33 3.5 Sampling Techniques and Procedure ........................................................................ 34 3.6 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria ............................................................................... 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii 3.7 Data Collection Instruments ...................................................................................... 36 3.8 Data Collection Procedures ....................................................................................... 36 3.9 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 38 3.10 Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................... 40 CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................... 43 PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS .......................................................................................... 43 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 43 4.2 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Participants .................................................. 44 4.3 Social Media Users and Covid-19: ........................................................................... 45 4.3.1 Views of Social Media Users on Covid-19........................................................ 49 4.3.2 Verification of Views and Knowledge about Covid-19: ................................... 55 4.4 Non-Social Media Users and Covid-19: ................................................................... 59 4.4.1 Views of Non-Social Media Users on Covid-19 ............................................... 63 4.4.2 Verification of Views and Knowledge about Covid-19: ................................... 66 CHAPTER FIVE ..................................................................................................................... 72 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION............................................................................................ 72 5.1 Introduction: .............................................................................................................. 72 5.2 Views Participants Hold about Covid-19 and Its Theoretical Implications: ............. 73 5.3 Verification Practices of Participants: ....................................................................... 82 CHAPTER SIX: ....................................................................................................................... 86 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................. 86 6.1 Introduction: .............................................................................................................. 86 6.2 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................ 86 6.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 88 6.4 Recommendations: .................................................................................................... 90 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 92 APPENDIX: ........................................................................................................................... 104 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW GUIDE: ................................................................................. 104 APPENDIX B: DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION OF PARTICIPANTS: ....................... 106 APPENDIX C: ETHICAL CLEARANCE ............................................................................ 108 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Highest Level of Education ...................................................................................... 44 Figure 2: Social media platforms used by participants ............................................................ 45 Figure 3: Views on the cause of Covid-19............................................................................... 73 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study The current ubiquity of fake news and misinformation has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to assert that the Covid-19 pandemic simultaneously exists with an infodemic. In the words of the Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “we’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic” WHO (2020). An infodemic is characterised as “too much information including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak.”1 Most scholars attribute the Covid-19 infodemic to the use of social media, which are platforms that allow users to produce and circulate information without much organizational checks (Casero-Ripollés, 2020; Wang, McKee, Torbica, & Stuckler, 2019; González-Padilla & Tortolero-Blanco, 2020). Casero-Ripollés (2020) for instance found that social media platforms became the “main circulation channel for fake news during the Coronavirus outbreak” (p. 8). Whilst social media produces the most amount of misinformation, mainstream media such as Television and newspapers are also sources of Covid-19 misinformation (Al-Zaman, 2022). In assessing the sources of Covid-19 misinformation across 138 countries, Al-Zaman (2022) found that mainstream media (Television, newspapers) produced 3.29% of Covid-19 misinformation whilst social media produced 84.94% of Covid-19 misinformation. 1 https://www.who.int/health-topics/infodemic#tab=tab_1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 The WHO’s description of the current wave of Covid-19 misinformation as an infodemic reflects the globalized nature of Covid-19 misinformation. For instance, the idea that Covid-19 is caused by 5G technology, exists in both Europe (Ahmed, Vidal-Alaball, Downing, & Seguí, 2020) and in sub-Saharan Africa (Ovenseri-Ogbomo, et al., 2020). Similarly, Donald Trump’s tweets and comments on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in treating Covid-19, increased google searches and purchase of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine (Niburski & Niburski, 2020), and led to chloroquine poisoning in Nigeria (Busari & Adebayo, 2020). Notwithstanding the globalized nature of Covid-19 misinformation, some pieces of misinformation appear to be more pronounced in certain parts of the world. For instance, the belief that Blacks are more resistant to Covid-19 than Whites (Osuagwu, et al., 2020; Tabong & Segtub2, 2021) and that the sun protects Africans from contracting the Covid-19 virus (Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2020; Ahinkorah, Ameyaw, Hagan, Seidu, & Schack, 2020), are arguably more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa than in the West. The prevalence of fake news and misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic is merely a recurrence of a global and persistent phenomenon of misinformation being disseminated during the outbreak of diseases. During the Zika epidemic between 2015 and 2016 for instance, rumours were found to be shared three times more than verified information (Sommarivaa, Vamosa, Mantzarlisb, Đàoa, & Tyson, 2018). Similarly, and during the Ebola outbreak in 2014, medically-pronounced-misinformation such as salt water being effective in preventing and treating Ebola were found to spread more rapidly than medically verified information (Oyeyemi, Gabarron, & Wynn, 2014). When misinformation spreads during pandemic contexts, there is usually a concomitant increase in the rates of infection, an increase in health complications, or an increase in other University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 problems (Huremović, 2019). For instance, anti-vaccine sentiments effectuated by the proliferation of misinformation can lead to low vaccination rates and a consequent higher infection rates (Sanders, 2020; Uscinski, et al., 2020). In Europe, the misinformed belief that Covid-19 is caused by advancements in 5G technology resulted in the destruction of 5G towers. In Africa, the belief that chloroquine could treat Covid-19 led to chloroquine poisoning (Busari & Adebayo, 2020). Consequently, there is a recognition that “infodemic management is an integral part of pandemic management” (Lohiniva, Nurzhynsk, Hudi, Anim, & Aboagye, 2022), Governments, global health institutions among others, to institute measures to curb the extant wave of covid- 19 misinformation (Kolluri & Murthy, 2021). The WHO for instance, created a myth-busting platform2 to debunk common Covid-19 myths, and Twitter is actively removing Covid-19 misinformation from its platform (Rosenberg, Syed, & Rezaie, 2020). Against the backdrop that there is a proliferation of misinformation about Covid-19 and the scholarly recognition that information verification is an essential mechanism for curbing the spread of misinformation (Sun, 2022), this study examined the views Ghanaians hold about the Covid-19 pandemic and the verification processes they employed prior to accepting those views as accurate. More specifically, and considering the scholarly data on how social media aids the proliferation of misinformation (Casero-Ripollés, 2020; Wang, McKee, Torbica, & Stuckler, 2019; González-Padilla & Tortolero-Blanco, 2020), this study sought to examine how Ghanaian social media users and non-users verified their views on the cause of Covid-19, effective treatment and prevention methods. The study is guided by the social action theory and the theory of self-indication. These two theories help explain why people held misinformed views about the Covid-19 pandemic, why 2 https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 they chose to verify certain pieces of information whilst acting on others without verification, and how they verified information. 1.2 Statement of the problem: During and post the United States presidential elections in 2016, researchers have been greatly interested in studying the effects of misinformation on public opinion. This period saw the popularization of the term “fake news” to denote “fabricated information that is patently false” (Molina, Sundar, Le, & Lee, 2021, p. 180). Some scholars contended that not all false information constitutes fake news and that the term fake news should be reserved for false information intentionally dissemination to mislead readers by assuming the form of legitimate news (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017; Gelfert, 2018; Tandoc, et al., 2018; Molina, Sundar, Le, & Lee, 2021). However, all scholarly conceptions of fake news recognize that a piece of information must be false to qualify as fake news (Gelfert, 2018; Tandoc, et al., 2018). Consequently, and in a bid to cover both deliberately disseminated misinformation in the form of news and other forms of misinformation, this study uses “fake news” as a “catch-all term” (Lilleker, 2017, p. 1) to represent false information or misinformation, irrespective of the intention behind its dissemination. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an extensive scholarly focus on how fake news and misinformation exacerbate the spread of the pandemic and how it undermines health agencies (Ahinkorah, Ameyaw, Jr., Seidu, & Schack, 2020; O’Connor & Murphy, 2020). To help curb the menace of fake news during the Covid-19 pandemic, some scholars have sought to leverage machine learning technology to help people verify Covid-19 related Covid-19-related information (Kolluri & Murthy, 2021), some have explored how pre- emptively alerting people on the pervasiveness of Covid-19 misinformation can help them University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 build “resistance” to misinformation (Linden, Roozenbeek, & Compton, 2020), and others have examined the factors that influence the sharing of information without verification (Khan & Idris, 2019). Despite the enormous scholarly research on curbing the Covid-19 infodemic, very little is still known about the factors that influence the verification of Covid-19 related information, how a person’s social relation with others influences trust in received information and verification behaviours, and how social context and expectations influence information verification behaviours. Further, and given the scholarly recognition that social media is the main source of Covid-19 misinformation (Al-Zaman, 2022), very little is known about how social media users differ in their information verification practices from non-social media users. Consequently, this study seeks to fill these gaps in the literature by exploring the information- verification behaviours of Ghanaian social media users and non-users. In doing so, the study provides data on the factors that influence or hinder information verification and whether one’s sources of information affect their information verification behaviour. 1.3 Objectives of the Study 1.3.1 Main Objective: The main objective of this study is to examine how Ghanaian social media users and non-users in Accra verify the views they hold about the Covid-19 pandemic. 1.3.2 Specific Objectives: 1. To explore the various views social media users hold about the Covid-19 pandemic. 2. To explore how social media users verified the views they hold about the Covid-19 pandemic. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 3. To explore the various views non-social media users hold about the Covid-19 pandemic. 4. To explore how non-social media users verified the views they hold about the Covid- 19 pandemic. 1.4 Significance of the Study The first significance of this study is that it aids the formulation of macro-level policies geared toward curbing the Covid-19 infodemic and pandemic. As the study assesses the factors that increase the likelihood of people believing in fake news about Covid-19, governments and health agencies can target and eliminate those factors. Further, the views gathered about Covid- 19, including treatment methods, and prevention methods among others can inform policy formulation in meaningful ways. In addition, this study contributes enormously to the scant literature on fake news in Ghana. According to Ahiabenu et al (2018), literature on fake news is sparse in Ghana despite the prevalence of fake news. By examining the verification of news in Ghana, the views people hold about Covid-19 in a context characterised by the World Health Organization as being infodemic, and by assessing the factors that contribute to the believe in fake news amongst Ghanaian social media users and non-users, enormously contributes to the literature on fake news in Ghana. Further, and by leveraging sociological theories such as social action theory and self-indication theory to discuss and analyse contemporary issues such as fake news, this study reiterates the importance of sociological analysis in understanding contemporary societies and human behaviour. For instance, the theory of social action as used in this study explains why individuals may believe in fake news and fail to verify information if they believe no severe social consequences would arise from such belief and failure to verify information. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 1.5 Organization of the Study This study is organized into six chapters. Chapter one of the study provides a background to the study, the main and specific objectives of the study, and the importance of the study in extending scholarly knowledge and in informing public health officials and to a large extent government on the continent of Africa and beyond, on how best to tackle medical misinformation on the Covid-19 pandemic. Chapter two reviews relevant scholarly works on fake news, Covid-19 related misinformation, social media and Covid-19, and information verification practices. In addition, the chapter also presents the theoretical perspective used as the basis for the study. Chapter three of this study outlines the methods that were used in conducting the research. These include discussions of data collection and analysis methods, sampling techniques and size, ethical considerations, inclusion and exclusion criteria among others. In chapter four, the data collected from participants is presented in line with the main and specific objectives of this study. The key areas of analysis in this chapter includes views about Covid-19 amongst Ghanaians, information verification methods employed by social media users and non-social media users, how social relations affects an individual’s efforts to ascertain the veracity of Covid-19 related information, and when information verification occurs, and how it occurs. In chapter five, the findings presented in chapter four are discussed in line with relevant literature, the theories of social action and self-indication, and the main and specific objectives of this study. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 Finally, chapter six summarizes the key findings in the study, draws some conclusions, states the limitations of this study, and provides some recommendations for further research in the field of fake news and information verification in Ghana. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction: This section explores existing literature on the concept of fake news and why people may believe in fake news, misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic, information verification in the context of a Covid-19 infodemic, and social media during the Covid-19 pandemic. The section also presents a review of the two theories, thus the theory of self-indication and the theory of social action, which would be used in understanding the information verification practices of participants and why participants held certain views. 2.2 Understanding Fake News The term “fake news” has been an elusive term with a lot of (mis)characterizations (Himma- Kadakas, 2017; Lilleker, 2017; Gelfert, 2018). Lilleker (2017, p. 1) asserts that “fake news” has become “a catch-all term with multiple definitions” and Himma-Kadakas (2017, p. 26) also notes that the term fake news is “controversial and ambiguous”. However, scholars converge on the idea that misinformation is a core characteristic of fake news (Himma-Kadakas, 2017; Klein & Wueller, 2017; Lazer, et al., 2018; Tandoc et al., 2018; Tandoc, 2019; Pennycook & Rand, 2021). Lazer et al. (2018, p. 1094) for instance defined fake news as “fabricated information that mimics news media content in form but not in organizational process or intent”. According to Himma-Kadakas (2017, p. 26), fake news is “intentionally widely spread misinformation.” Allcott & Gentzkow (2017) similarly defined fake news as “news articles that are intentionally and verifiably false and could mislead reader.” Tandoc et al. (2018) characterized this version of fake news as “news fabrication”, and it involves “viral posts based on fictitious accounts made to look like news reports.” University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 Whilst scholars contend that misinformation in the form of satire, which is misinformation “designed to be humorous and overtly fake, and thus not intended to mislead” (Lilleker, 2017, p. 1), does not constitute fake news, satire and other similar content-forms can have the same effect as fake news, especially when its audience is oblivious of the intention behind such content (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). For example, a broadcast by Ronald Arbuthnott Knox in 1926 that London was under attack by communists misled listeners who tuned in late and did not hear the disclaimer at the start of the program that the broadcast was for entertainment purposes (Burkhardt, 2017). Essentially, when satirical content is shared on social media without disclaimers, such content may mislead readers. In line with this recognition, Allcott and Gentzkow (2017, p. 213) asserted that fake news includes “articles that originate on satirical websites but could be misunderstood as factual, especially when viewed in isolation on Twitter or Facebook feeds.” There are several explanations for why people believe fake news. One explanation is that people are more likely to believe misinformation when it confirms or upholds what they already believe to be true or what they want to be true (Vallone et al., 1985; Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017; Lazer, et al., 2018; Pennycook et al., 2018; Pennycook & Rand, 2021). According to Lazer et al. (2018), research shows that people prefer information that confirms their pre-existing attitudes (selective exposure), view information consistent with their pre-existing beliefs as more persuasive than dissonant information (confirmation bias), and are inclined to accept information that pleases them (desirability bias). Prior partisan and ideological beliefs might prevent acceptance of fact checking of a given fake news story (Lazer, et al., 2018, p. 1095) The findings of Allcott and Gentzkow’s (2017) on trust in news reports amongst Democrats and Republicans in the United States, gives credence to Lazer et al.’s (2018) assertion on confirmation and desirability bias. In Allcott and Gentzkow’s (2017) study, Democrats and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 Republicans were found to be 15% more likely to believe ideologically inclined headlines (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). The implication of this confirmation or desirability bias in the context of Covid-19 is that if people already believe a set of actors have diametrically opposed interests to them, then any piece of information that claims that the Covid-19 virus was created by those set of actors, is likely to be believed as accurate. Similarly, methods of treatment already believed to be effective against non-Covid-19 ailments may similarly be believed to effective against the Covid-19 virus. In addition, people are also more likely to believe in fake news when they receive that information from socially proximate sources (Kang et al., 2011; Tandoc, et al., 2018). Kang et al. (2011) posit that when people receive news online, they usually prefer to do so from sources that know; a replication of the traditional form of getting news where the media organizations are known. Thus, people are more likely to believe in fake news if it is shared by people in their social network (friends, family) than people outside. This study will explore this further by examining how social relations influence Ghanaians’ efforts to verify Covid-19 related information. People also believe fake news content they read from the internet because they consider the internet a credible source of information (Flanagin & Metzger, 2000; Jansen et al., 2009). Research findings from Flanagin and Metzger (2000) showed that people believed that internet news outlets are just as credible as radio, magazines, and television news outlets. Social media platforms, which are internet-based platforms for one-to-many communication (Carr & Hayes, 2015), are increasingly seen as “trusted sources of information, insights, and opinions.” (Jansen, et al., 2009, p. 2186). Consequently, misinformation on internet would likely be believed as true because of the trust associated with the internet as a medium of information transmission. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 In addition, people are more likely to believe fake news as true when they have had prior exposure to a similar fake news content (Pennycook, et al., 2018). In a study conducted by Pennycook et al.’s (2018), and in what they characterized as a familiarization stage, participants were initially familiarized with various news contents, both fake news and real news Participants were then presented with novel fake news headlines and fake news headlines that were similar to those presented in the familiarization stage. Findings indicated that participants were more likely to judge subsequent fake news headlines as accurate if they had prior exposure to a similar content during the familiarization stage (Pennycook, et al., 2018). According to Pennycook et al. (2018), nearly twice as many participants (92.1% increase, from 38 to 73 out of 949 total) judged the fake news headlines presented to them during the familiarization stage as accurate (mean accuracy rating above 2.5), compared to the stories presented to them for the first time in the assessment stage. (Pennycook, et al., 2018, p. 18) Given that proliferators of fake news utilize bots, “automated accounts impersonating humans” (Lazer et al., 2018, p. 1093), to post similar fake news contents particularly on social media (Desigaud et al., 2017; Shane, 2017; Pennycook, et al., 2018). Pennycook et al.’s (2018) findings intimate that most users of social media are likely to believe fake news because they may have encountered a similar piece of fake news in the past. Furthermore, believe in fake news is a function of people’s critical thinking and evaluation skills (Tandoc, Ling, et al., 2018). People only sought to verify news information if their insight, instinct, or wisdom told them to do so, otherwise they believed it without verification (Tandoc, Ling, et al., 2018). A social media user in speaking about how information on social media is verified before being believed, asserted “usually, we can all tell if the news is over- exaggerated or not. We are old enough to judge and think for ourselves” (Tandoc, Ling, et al., University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 2018, p. 2754). Thus, individuals who cannot assess the veracity of news information using their own knowledge and analytical thinking abilities, are more likely to believe in fake news. 2.3 Fake News and Covid-19 In the context of Covid-19, there has been a surge in fake news and misinformation (Frenkel et al., 2020; Linden, Roozenbeek, & Compton, 2020; Moscadelli, et al., 2020; Naeem & Bhatti, 2021; O’Connor & Murphy, 2020; Apuke & Omar, 2021). Worryingly, fake news and misinformation on the Covid-19 pandemic quickly spread throughout the world because the internet and social media were the main platforms for its spread (Kim et al., 2020; Naeem et al., 2021. Thus, the same pieces of misinformation are likely to exist in several countries as citizens of those countries use the internet and social media platforms. For instance, the fact that purchases of chloroquine soared in Nigeria (Busari & Adebayo, 2020) and in Ghana (Tabong & Segtub, 2021) following the endorsement by Donald trump (45th President of the United States) and Jair Bolsonaro (the 38th President of Brazil) on the internet, depicts the globalized nature of Covid-19 misinformation. In explaining the reason behind the proliferation of fake news in the context of Covid-19, Moscadelli et al. (2020) asserted that due to uncertain and unanticipated nature of the Covid- 19 virus, people were rendered helpless, making “any kind of explanation plausible and reasonable to the eyes of the general population” (Moscadelli, et al. 2020, p. 5851). Kim et al., (2020) similarly noted that the proliferation of fake news in the context of Covid-19 is because of the increased reliance on online information, as people sought to protect themselves from the Covid-19 virus. Whilst fake news on Covid-19 is diverse, O’Connor and Murphy (2020) posit that they share a common pattern: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 They claim to have inside information from, for example, a young researcher from Wuhan, a Taiwanese expert, or Dr Tim in Cork, but no reference is provided to support the alleged source. The tone is often alarmist, implying that if the suggested action is ignored, serious consequences will occur -“Please do this before it’s too late.” The message is intended to trigger panic and fear in the reader. This increases the likelihood that the message will be shared with family and friends. (O’Connor & Murphy, 2020, p. 1) Kasprak (2020a, para. 4) similarly notes that fake news messages usually attempt to justify their authenticity and medical basis by, for example, attributing it to “serious excellent advice by Japanese doctors”. Sometimes, fake statements are falsely attributed to political figures as a way of legitimizing it, and this was the case when Ghana’s president Nana Akuffo Addo was alleged to have stated that the Covid-19 virus is “man-made” and vaccinations are for micro- chips implanting purposes (Goodman et al., 2020). Prominent amongst the Covid-19 misinformation is that the virus was deliberately created by a research facility and deliberately spread to infect people (Andersen et al., 2020; Frenkel, et al., 2020; Kasprak, 2020b); or that the virus was caused by new advancements in 5G technology (Naeeem & Bhatti, 2021). In terms of prevention of the Covid-19 virus, dominant ideas which later turned out to be false were that alcohol and garlic protected one from contracting the virus; keeping one’s throat moist would protect one from contracting the virus (MacGuill, 2020). Some people alleged that wearing a mask, an act sanctioned by the World Health Organization as essential for the prevention of the virus, exacerbated the virus (Linden, et al., 2020). In African countries, it was believed that the hot temperatures in Africa and the genetic make-up of Africans provided protection against the virus (Palma, 2020). In Ghana, some falsely believe that the leaves of the neem tree (Azadirachta Indica), hydroxychloroquine, the inhalation of the steam from boiled pawpaw (Carica papaya) among others, were effective against the Covid-19 virus (Tabong & Segtub, 2021). Various scholars have studied the effects of fake news and misinformation in the context of Covid-19 (Busari & Adebayo, 2020; Kim, et al., 2020; Krause, et al., 2020; Linden, et al., University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 2020; Waldrop et al., 2020). One key effect is that the believe in unverified information led to people failing to follow all health-protective behaviours (Allington et al., 2020). In Europe for instance, it was discovered that individuals who held conspiracy views about the Covid-19 pandemic where less likely to follow governmental guidelines on the prevention of the Covid- 19 virus (Freeman, et al., 2020). Similarly, research in Canada showed that people exposed to misinformation were less likely to follow social distancing protocols (Bridgman, et al., 2020). The phenomenon were people fail to follow recommended guidelines may arise when people do not believe the virus exists, or when they believe that the persons recommending the health- protective behaviours have perverse incentives or are withholding some useful information. In addition to failing to follow health guidelines, people may engage in non-recommended and risky practices upon encountering misinformation (Busari & Adebayo, 2020; Gharpure, et al., 2020). In the United States, a survey conducted amongst 502 adults found that thirty-nine percent of participants engaged in non-recommended high risk activities such as “washing food products with bleach, applying household cleaning or disinfectant products to bare skin, and intentionally inhaling or ingesting these product” (Gharpure, et al., 2020, p. 2946). In the middle east, the ingestion of methanol following a false circulation on the effectiveness of the poison led to the death of over 300 people (Associated Press, 2020). A similar case occurred in Nigeria when the misinformed view that chloroquine is effective in treating Covid-19 led to chloroquine poisoning (Busari & Adebayo, 2020). These deleterious consequences accruing from people’s adherence to misinformed views provides a strong justification for scholarly focus on the ways in which such misinformation can be curbed, which is the aim of this study. Although there is sparse scholarly data on the effects of misinformation in Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic, except for the report on chloroquine poisoning in Nigeria (Busari & Adebayo, 2020), misinformation such as the sun providing Africans some protection against Covid (Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2020) may cause people to less vigilant in observing University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 official Covid-19 safety protocols. Essentially, this study, by exploring the views people hold about Covid-19, would be able to draw useful inferences on the effects of some misinformed views on health seeking behaviours. 2.4 Information Verification in the Context of Fake News In the context of mass misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic, scholars have acknowledged the importance of information verification in curbing the Covid-19 infodemic and its harmful consequences (Kolluri & Murthy, 2021; Sun, 2022; United Nations Zimbabwe, 2021; Xia et al., 2021). According to Sun (2022, p. 262) “even if misinformation is widely spread, it should not become a major concern if people are accustomed to verifying suspicious information before sharing or believing it”. Sun (2022) is thus intimating that fake news and misinformation only have an effect to the extent that they are believed, and not actually to the extent that they are shared. In addition, the assumption underpinning Sun’s (2022) believe in the utility of information verification in mitigating the effects of misinformation is that even in the context of an infodemic, there exists information sources that can be trusted to contain true and scientifically- backed information. Usually, health organizations such as the WHO and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre have been noted as authentic sources of information (Kolluri & Murthy, 2021; Sun, 2022). When people utilize non-reliable sources of information to verify a piece of information, there is a possibility that a piece of misinformation may be confirmed as accurate by the source used for verification. Thus, and beyond people deciding to verify a piece of information, the medium of verification chosen to verify information is as essential as the choice to verify. There has been research on the factors that determine if people would make the choice to verify a piece of information before taking actions such as believing the information or sharing to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 others (Tandoc, et al., 2018; Wenzel, 2019; Edgerly et al., 2020; Nee, 2019; Sun, 2022). Arguably, all the factors that cause people to believe in fake news and misinformation, such as confirmation bias (Lazer, et al., 2018) and the believe that information on the internet can be trusted (Kang et al., 2011; Tandoc, et al., 2018), impact the verification behaviour of people. For instance, if people believe information on the internet can be trusted, they are more likely to believe a piece of information posted on the internet as true, and not seek to further verify the information. Further, another factor affecting people’s decision to verify a piece of information is their subjective evaluation of the veracity of the piece of information (Tandoc, et al., 2018). Thus, when people think a piece of new information is accurate, perhaps due to previous encounters with similar pieces of information, experience, or ideological leanings (Edgerly, et al., 2020), then a choice may be made to not verify the information, and it is assumed to be true. Lazer et al. (2018) has, however, noted that fake news and misinformation thrive because people are less likely to fact check information once it confirms their pre-existing believes, which may itself be erroneous. In addition, Sun (2022) found that people are likely to verify a piece information if they perceived that others may be susceptible to the effects of the piece of information being inaccurate (Sun, 2022). Thus, if a person believes that the proliferation of a piece of information may have deleterious health outcomes if the proliferated piece of information is false, then the person may seek to verify the piece of information. Arguably, and as an extension of Sun’s (2022) findings, people may also verify information if the information requires them to take an action they evaluate to have negative impacts on them if the information turns out inaccurate. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 Finally, the source of an information influences the decision to verify information (Tandoc, et al., 2018). The source a piece of information originated is sometimes used as a basis for believing that the piece of information is accurate because the source is trustworthy. 2.5 Social Media and Covid-19: In recent times, individuals are increasingly getting interconnected through web platforms collectively referred to as social media (Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Asur & Huberman, 2010; Carr & Hayes, 2015; Greenwood et al., 2016; Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017; Fuchs, 2021). Facebook, a social media platform, had about 1.8 billion users in 2016, and Twitter, another social media platform, had about 400 million active users in 2016 (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). In the United States alone in 2016, 79% of all internet users used Facebook, 32% of internet users used Instagram, 24% of internet users used Twitter, 29% of internet users used LinkedIn, and 31% of internet users used Pinterest (Greenwood, et al., 2016). In Ghana, Statista (2022) reported that as at January 2022, there were about 8.8 million social media users in total. As of January 2020, the total number of social media users in Ghana was about 6 million (Kemp, 2020). Bannor, et al. (2017) and Sasu (2021) found that most Ghanaians are active on social media and in the third quarter of 2020, about 83.9% of Ghanaian internet users used WhatsApp, 70.8% used Facebook, 69.7% used YouTube among others (Sasu, 2021). Gyampo (2017) similarly highlighted the prevalence of social media in Ghana and acknowledged the popularity of WhatsApp and Facebook in Ghana. Although there is no scholarly consensus on what constitutes social media (Carr & Hayes, 2015), there is a consensus that platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, are social media platforms (Carr & Hayes, 2015; Greenwood, et al., 2016; Bannor et al., 2017). What is common amongst these instances of social media is that they are internet based, allow people to self-generate content for the viewership of others, and the generation of content by users is University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 usually unregulated except for when such content violate the terms of use of these social media platforms. Scholarly attempts at a definition of social media reflect the above common characteristics of social media platforms. Carr and Hayes (2015) for instance posited that social media consists of “internet-based channels that allow users to opportunistically interact and selectively self- present, either in real-time or asynchronously, with both broad and narrow audiences who derive value from user-generated content and the perception of interaction with others.” Similarly, Gyampo (2017, p. 128) posited that social media “operates in a dialogic transmission system with many sources to many receivers in contrast with traditional media that operates under a monologist transmission model with one source to many receivers.” Gyampo’s (2017) conception of social media captures one distinguishing feature of social media noted by Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), which is the mass creation of content by all users of social media in a participatory and collaborative manner. Whilst the content posted on social media is incredibly diverse, scholars have that noted social media platforms are increasingly being used for the dissemination of news and information (Jansen, Zhang, Sobel, & Chowdury, 2009; Hermida, 2010; Zúñiga et al., 2012; Sveningsson, 2015; Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017; Mellon & Prosser, 2017; Tandoc, et al., 2018). In capturing the contemporary usage of social media for news, Alemanno (2018, p. 1) succinctly asserted that “the days when social networks were dismissed as entertaining outlets for teenagers are long gone. Today they have become the primary medium over which we consume news, form our political identities, and spend a considerable portion of our time”. For instance, a lot of young people consider Twitter to be an immediately accessible source of news (Sveningsson, 2016) and Allcott and Gentzkow (2017) also found that some Americans spent about 38% of their overall news consumption time on social media consuming “news” (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). In Ghana, social media platforms are deemed more effective for the dissemination of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 health-related information, because of the sheer number of Ghanaians who utilize the platform (Bannor, et al., 2017). Perhaps a key reason for the increasing reliance on social media for news is that traditional media platforms such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) share news content on social media platforms as a way of reaching a wider audience (example the BBC’s Twitter handle) (Hermida et al., 2012). In addition to, journalists are increasingly using social media to express opinions and go about their work of news reportage (Hermida, 2009; Hermida, 2010. Lasorsa, et al., 2012). Losarsa et al. (2012) used the term microblogging journalism to refer to the practice where journalists share short and instant information to their followers. These practices have been found to increase dependence on social media platforms for news (Losarsa et al., 2012). In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, social media platforms are widely used for accessing information on the Covid-19 virus and pandemic (Cuello-Garciaa, Perez-Gaxiolac, & Amelsvoort, 2020; González-Padilla & Tortolero-Blanco, 2020; Hussain, 2020; Wong, Ho, Olusanya, Antonini, & Lyness, 2021;). According to Wong et al. (2021, p. 256), various international health organizations and health experts share information on social media on the Covid-19 pandemic, and “international knowledge and guidelines have also been shared beyond geographical and language barriers.” Consequently, Ghanaians on social media can directly access information shared by other social media users, irrespective of geographical location of the user who shared the information. Further, any piece of misinformation on social media would equally be disseminated to a large group of Ghanaians. Despite the recognition that social media helps in the dissemination of information, some information on social media about the Covid-19 pandemic have been found to be misleading, lacking scientific backing, or injurious to public health (González-Padilla & Tortolero-Blanco, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 2020; Apuke & Omar, 2021; Naeem, Bhatti, & Khan, 2021; Wong, et al., 2021). In characterizing the spread of fake news and misinformation on social media, Gonzalez-Padilla and Tortolero-Blanco (2020, p. 2) asserts that “information shared on social media might “not be current, has not been subjected to peer review, is invalid, incorrect, not applicable to our environment, or even false”. Mostly, the prevalence of misinformation and fake news on social media is because social media allow users “produce and share information at little or no cost” (Halpern et al., 2019, p. 215). Cost can be in the form of reputational damage, but the possibility that social media users can create fake accounts allows them to escape such cost. Also, cost can be financial, such as the cost of setting up a news broadcasting platform and hiring journalist, but social media users can reach millions of people without incurring this cost due to the very nature of social media platforms. The prevalence of fake news and misinformation on social media seems to have more debilitating consequences in the Ghanaian context, mainly because misinformation on social media is likely to be adopted by traditional media platforms and reported as facts (Ahiabenu et al., 2018). According to Ahiabenu et al. (2018), several media houses [in Ghana] rely on social media and online content in their news production processes. This situation poses a major risk since the use of social media and online content is now the norm in most newsrooms across the country. As a result, fake news is not only an online and social media occurrence since its influence on traditional media is now a reality. (Ahiabenu, et al., 2018, p. 2) The consequence of the utilization of social media content by traditional media outlets is that any misinformation shared on social media regarding Covid-19 may be reported by traditional media outlets to the non-social media population or to social media users who have not encountered such misinformation. However, the editorial processes of traditional media outlets University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 may help filter out some pieces of misinformation from the social media content (Flanagin & Metzger, 2000; Ahiabenu et al., 2018). Worryingly, Ahiabenu et al. (2018) found that about 26.9% of newsrooms in Ghana do not have systems in place to filter out misinformation despite their heavy reliance on social media for information curating purposes. Of those who had systems in place to deal with fake news, about 81.7% did not have dedicated staff to deal with fake news. Further, “94.7% of newsrooms in Ghana did not have an annual budget dedicated solely for fake news verification whereas 5.3% of newsrooms who had dedicated budgets for fake news verification had an amount less than GH 30,000 (USD6,700)” (Ahiabenu, et al., 2018, p. 11). The lack of systems in place to check the spread of fake news in both the social media and traditional media space, makes fake news likely to occur in both social media and non-social media space in Ghana. Beyond the lack of systems of by traditional media outlets to check social media content on Covid-19 before sharing, misinformation from the social media space may infiltrate traditional media because news reporters have been found to have an urge to be the first person/organization to break news, and this consequently undermines the conventional news verification systems (Ahiabenu et al., 2018). 2.6 Social Media Users versus Non-Users Research has shown that there exist demographic differences between social media users and non-users (Hargittai, 2007; Mellon & Prosser, 2017). First, social media users are more likely to be significantly younger than non-social media users (Ellison et al., 2007; Mellon & Prosser, 2017). According to Mellon and Prosser (2017, p. 3), “85% of people aged between 18 and 30 used Facebook, whereas only a minority (40%) of respondents over 40 did.” Ellison et al. (2007) explained that the relative novelty of platforms like Facebook, partly explains why these platforms are not popular amongst older generations. Thus, the older generation is arguably University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 used to a life where information is attained from traditional media sources and from persons they know on an interpersonal level. Consequently, misinformation prevalent in the social media space may be more prevalent among younger people than older people. In terms of education, users of Facebook and Twitter had higher educational attainments than non-users (Mellon & Prosser, 2017). One possible explanation for the difference between social media users and non-users in terms of educational attainment is that people with higher educational attainments find social media platforms more useful. For people with high educational attainments, social media platforms could be useful for staying in touch with one’s friends and colleagues, for accessing information on various issues, and for seeking out more educational opportunities. In terms of behavioural characteristics, Facebook users were found to be more overtly narcissistic, such that they had a greater tendency to disclose personal information to others (Ljepav, Orr, Locke, & Ross, 2013). Understandably, the narcissistic tendencies of social media users is engendered by fact that social media users gain likes and followers when they make posts on social media. In a bid to attract more likes and followers, it can be plausibly argued that social media users will share information about Covid-19 as soon as possible, and may do so without verification. In terms of social networks, social media users were more likely to have contemporaries who similarly use social media (Ljepav, et al., 2013). A plausible explanation for this is that users of social media platforms meet other users on the same platform and eventually become friends or acquaintances. As found by Mellon and Prosser (2017), younger persons use social media often, and are thus more likely to become friends or acquaintances with one another. 2.7 Theoretical Framework University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 Two theories guided this study: The theory of self-indication and the theory of social action by Talcott Parsons. The theory of self-indication is a symbolic interactionist theoretical perspective which offers an account of why people act the way they do in various situations. The theory of self-indication helps in explaining why people believe in fake news, why they choose to verify some information yet believe other information without verification, and what informs their subjective conception on how information should be verified. The second theory used in this study is the theory of social action by Talcott Parsons. Parsons’ theory of social action explains the goals people have in society, how people act to achieve an end/goal, and the resources they use to achieve the goal. Primarily, the goal of this study is information verification. Consequently, the theory of social action explains why people may or may not have information verification as a goal, the means they utilize to actualize information verification if they have it as a goal, among others. 2.7.1 Self-Indication; a Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Herbert Mead’s idea of self-indication as a basis for human action and behaviour is important in understanding how people respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and follow health guidelines from recognized health institutions or authorities. Mead’s thesis on self-indication is rooted in the basic argument that every human has a self they can make an object of their actions (Mead, 1934). According to Mead (1934, p. xxiv), a man can “look back at himself from (respond to himself from) that perspective, and so become an object to himself.” When a person makes the “self” an object of their actions, they treat the self as if it was an ‘other’, a third party. For example, people can advise themselves, get angry at themselves, rebuff themselves among others, in a similar way they would have done to others (Mead, 1934; Blumer, 1986). Consequently, Mead argues that people’s actions are products of self-indications after taking various things into account. According to Mead, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 a human individual can indicate to himself what the other person is going to do, and then to take his attitude on the basis of that indication. He can analyse his act and reconstruct it by means of this process. The sort of intelligence he has is not based on physiological differentiation, nor based upon herd instincts but upon the development through the social process which enables him to carry out his part in the social reaction by indicating to himself the different possible reactions, analysing them, and recombining them. (Mead, 1934, p. 244) Blumer (1986) in explaining the ideas of Mead stated that before an individual engages in an action or response in a way, he/she proceeds by pointing out to himself the divergent things which have to be taken into account in the course of his action. He has to note what he wants to do and how he is to do it; he has to point out to himself the various conditions which may be instrumental to his action and those which may obstruct his action; he has to take account of the demands, the expectations, the prohibitions, and the threats as they may arise in the situation in which he is acting. (Blumer, 1986, p. 81) Crucially, people’s actions and responses to various things in life are products of their accounts for societal expectations, evaluations of formal rules in support of and against their action, and their assessment of the possible consequences that may arise because of their actions or choice of response (Mead, 1934). According to Blumer (1986), people develop a sense of what is expected of them in a context and eventually acquire common understandings of how to act in various contexts. Essentially, these understandings of how to act and the types of actions that are considered appropriate can change over time as an actor encounters something new, such as new information, a new context, or a new set of among others. After all, the process of self- indication is such that “the actor notes various things, defines and weighs them, projects out different possibilities of action, selects among them, makes decisions, and revises his plans as he takes account of something new.” (Blumer, 1986, p. 96) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 Furthermore, Blumer (1986) analysed that Mead’s idea of self-indication is different from the idea of attitudes/predispositions. According to Blumer (1986), self-indication is such that it can suppress an individual's attitudes or predispositions in favour of actions that are deemed more appropriate. For example, a person may have a negative attitude towards an outgroup, yet act favourably towards them because it might be realized, post-self-indication, that acting favourably yields some benefits, or that expressions of antagonism results in societal reprisal among others. When Mead’s original ideas on self-indication and Blumer’s (1986) subsequent commentary on those ideas are applied to examining people’s responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and the concomitant safety protocols, two ideas emerge. First, an individual can act in a medically sanctioned way or adhere to safety protocols despite having ideas that contradict their adherence to those protocols. This is because actions and responses are consequences of actors evaluating societal expectations and the threats they will face if they act contrary to those expectations. Here, the space in which an individual interacts shapes the expectations they think members of their space have of them. Thus, when an individual is in a context where the dominant idea is that people ought to wear their nose masks, wash their hands frequently with soap and water, refrain from public gatherings, and maintain social distancing, expectations are created and an individual then weighs these expectations against any reason or incentive they might have to act contrary to these expectations. As Blumer (1986) notes, “What one's associates are doing becomes the context inside of which one's own developing act has to fit.” The second issue which emerges from the idea of self-indication is that fake news shapes the process of self-indication and the eventual courses of action people deem appropriate. For example, by widely broadcasting fake news pieces on effective treatment methods such as the use of hot water, individuals are convinced that their decision to consume hot water on regularly University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 is socially sanctioned and appropriate. Similarly, people can choose to violate safety protocols if other people in their social space find the violation tolerable or acceptable. 2.7.2 Talcott Parsons’ Theory of Social Action: In his theory of social action, Parsons sought to explain the behaviour of man as it occurs within a social context (Parsons, 1937). The concept of an act is fundamental to Parson’s theory of social action. In characterizing what an act is, Parsons stated that “an ‘act’ involves logically the following: (1) it implies an agent, an ‘actor.’ (2) for purposes of definition the act must have an ‘end’, a future state of affairs toward which the process of action is oriented…” (Parsons, 1937, p. 44). Thus, an agent, usually a human is needed to act for the actualization of various ends. To achieve ends, Parsons (1937) analysed that there are certain things/factors/resources under the control of the agent, and he referred to these as means. However, there are some other things/factors outside the control of the agent, and Parsons referred to these as conditions (Parsons, 1937). To illustrate his concepts of an act, the constitutive elements of an agent, end, means, and conditions, Parsons (1937) used a scenario involving a student with an immediate end of writing a paper on a subject. According to Parsons (1937) submitting the paper can be recognized as the concrete end. To achieve that end, the student must use various things over which he/she has an appreciable degree of control, such as books, paper, pencil, and typewriter, and these are the means (Parsons, 1937). In addition to the things the student has control over, there are certain things the student cannot control, such as have unlimited number of books. The things the student cannot control are referred to as the conditions (Parsons, 1937). In addition to ends, means, and conditions, Parsons’ (1937) theory of social action contains a normative element (Parsons, 1937; Fox, Lidz, & Bershady, 2005). The normative element involves those “rules of conduct and underlying values that regulate human behaviour” (Fox University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 et al., 2005, p. 3). According to Fox et al. (2005, p. 4), “Parsons argued that normative elements made it possible for ongoing social relationships to achieve a degree of social order.” Whilst ends and means are essential in social action, Parsons states that norms guide what individuals choose as ends and guides the means individuals choose to attain their chosen ends (Parsons, 1937; Fox, Lidz, & Bershady, 2005). This normative element is considered important for the maintenance of social order as individuals for instance are normatively constrained in their choice of ends that may affect societal stability. Parsons’ theory of social action is useful in understanding the verification practices of social media users and non-users. The theory helps in explaining why some people may choose to verify information and others choose not to verify. Whilst verification of information can be characterised as an end, like other ends, various actors still have the choice to desire that end or worthy of attaining. When people choose to verify information, it simply reflects their choice of information verification as a desirable end. Further, it demonstrates that despite the existence of conditions (constraints), people are willing to pursue an end they consider worthy of pursuit. The pursuit of the end of verification despite inhibitions can also be reflective of the fact that there exist social norms that recognize having verified information as a worthy end worthy of pursuance, or at the very least that no social norm proscribes the pursuance of verification as an end. Further, the theory allows for a thorough investigation of the verification processes undertaken by participants who choose to verify information. The verification processes, in Parsons’ terms, are the means. On the other hand, when people do not verify information, possible explanations could be that verification is not construed as a necessary or worthy end, or that the conditions (restraints) are such that the means of an individual cannot allow for the actualization of the end of verification. These conditions could include time restraints, resource restraints, and skill restraints among others. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter elaborates on the methods and procedures that were used in conducting this study. In this chapter, the research method, sampling techniques and procedure, the sample size, inclusion and exclusion criteria, methods of data collection and methods of data analysis, the research site, and ethical considerations are elaborated. 3.2 Research Design This study used a qualitative research method. Qualitative research relies on participants to provide detailed/in-depth information about their subjective lived experiences (Jackson, Drummond, & Camara, 2007). Kothari (2004, p. 5) describes qualitative research as involving the “subjective assessment of attitudes, opinions and behaviour”. A qualitative research method is concerned with deepening understanding of a phenomenon, situation, behaviour, and “is not concerned with numerical representativity” (Queirós, Faria, & Almeida, 2017, p. 370). Pathak, Jena, and Kalra (2013, p. 192) similarly explained that the qualitative method is “used to understand people’s beliefs, experiences, attitudes, behaviour, and interactions. It generates non‑numerical data” Owing to the fact that this study seeks to explore people’s subjective assessments and attitudes about Covid-19 and verification of Covid-19 related information, a qualitative research method is the most appropriate research method as it allows for the exploration of such subjective human experiences. Further, this study is not concerned with obtaining numeral data on information verification practices and experiences of fake news, but rather seeks to explore what those practices and experiences entail. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 Within the qualitative research method, various distinct approaches exist. These different approaches constitute the different ways qualitative research can be conducted and they include ideas on the methods of data collection, data analysis, and purpose of the research among others (Creswell, 2007). Common qualitative approaches are ethnography, case study, grounded theory, phenomenology, discourse analysis, and narrative research (Creswell, 2007; Starks, 2007). This research used the phenomenological approach. According to Mohajan (2018, p. 8), phenomenology is “an approach to explore people’s everyday life experience. It is used when the study is about the life experiences of a concept or phenomenon experienced by one or more individuals.” Starks (2007) also explained that “through close examination of individual experiences, phenomenological analysts seek to capture the meaning and common features, or essences, of an experience or event.” In phenomenological research, Creswell (2007) explained that the data is gathered from individuals who have experienced a given phenomenon, and then the researcher “develops a composite description of the essence of the experience for all of the individuals.” (Donalek (2004, p. 58) similarly notes that a phenomenological researcher recruits persons who have experienced a given a phenomenon and have the will and capacity to share their experiences. The choice of the phenomenological approach was borne out of the fact that the approach emphasizes engagement with persons who have experienced a given phenomenon and are willing to describe their experiences. In this study, the phenomenon of interest is fake news and the main aim of the study involves an assessment of participants’ encounters with fake news and their subsequent actions (verification, application of encountered implication to their lives). The phenomenological approach was considered a more appropriate method than methods such as ethnography, and grounded theory. Ethnography relies on participant observation as the primary data collection approach (Creswell, 2007). For instance, the participant observation method of data collection was considered less desirable due to its University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 potential to skew the information verification procedures of participants (observation from a researcher may influence participant actions). Further, it was believed that people encountered information about Covid-19 whilst engaged in private conversations with others or whilst privately exploring social media, and participant observation would have been inappropriate in those circumstances. Similarly, the grounded theory approach was considered less suitable in this research as the purpose of the study was not the development of a theory on fake news and information verification processes. 3.3 Study Area This research was conducted in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Greater Accra is one of regions of Ghana, located at the south-central part of Ghana, and contains the capital city of Accra (GSS, 2013). The Greater Accra region is considered a metropolitan region and “hosts most of the business and industrial establishments in the country, and a range of international organizations.” (GSS, 2013, p. 27). The latest census in Ghana also revealed that the city of Accra has the highest proportion of non-Ghanaians than any other district in Ghana. Further, the Greater Accra region also has an enormous population of mobile phone users, discovered to be 73.5 percent of persons 12 years and older and greater than the national average of 47.7 percent (GSS, 2013). Perhaps owing to the high population of mobile phones users in Greater Accra, it is also the region with the highest proportion of internet users in Ghana (GSS, 2013). The metropolitan status of Greater Accra, its mobile population and internet proliferation, made the region the most suitable region to conduct this research. Firstly, awareness of Covid-19 is particularly high in the Greater Accra region due to the massive media attention the region gets for having the highest number of Covid-19 cases. Latest data from the Ghana Health Service reveals that the region has more than half (as of 23rd July 2021, the region had 55, 580 Covid- 19 cases out of 102,103 cases) of Ghana’s reported Covid-19 cases (GHS, 2021). Due to the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 massive media attention the region gets, it is very likely that the population of Greater Accra have encountered some Covid-19 related information at some point. Secondly, the high penetration of mobile phones and internet technology in the region makes it suitable for this research as it is very likely that participants, particularly the social media group, have at some point encountered Covid-19 (mis)information online. No specific area in Greater was chosen for the recruitment of participants and participants were conveniently and purposively sampled throughout Greater Accra. The main reason for recruiting participants this way was to maximize the possibility of attaining a wide range of views on Covid-19 and attitudes towards information verification. 3.4 Sample Size Being able to check every element of a study population can help guarantee some accuracy as all items in a population are covered (Acharya, Prakash, Saxena, & Nigam, 2013; Kothari, 2004). However, constraints in terms of money, time, and energy, greatly prevent the actualization of this idea. For instance, whilst it would have been ideal to collect data from every Ghanaian concerning the Covid-19 pandemic and their information filtering processes and subsequent actions based on the nature of the information, it is impossible to pursue due to the constraints formerly mentioned. Kothari (2004) further asserts that governments are perhaps the only bodies capable of carrying out such grand operations. Owing to resource constraints, a sample size, a section of the target population, is usually chosen for data collection purposes (Lavrakas, 2008). As this study was concerned with two groups of participants, social media users and non-users, the study used a total sample size of 20 participants and had an equal distribution of participants in each group (10 for social media users and 10 for non-social media users). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 According to Marshall (1996) the choice of sample size in qualitative research is fundamentally premised on the question of whether the study’s research questions can be answered with the responses from chosen participants. Marshall (1996, p. 523) further explained that “the number of required subjects usually becomes obvious as the study progresses, as new categories, themes or explanations stop emerging from the data (data saturation).” In this study, new themes stopped emerging at the 5th and 7th participants for the non-social media users and social media users’ categories respectively. However, eight more interviews (three social media users and five non-social media users) were conducted to confirm that the point of saturation had been reached, bringing the total number of respondents to 20 (10 participants for each category). 3.5 Sampling Techniques and Procedure A sampling technique involves “a definite plan for obtaining a sample [a section of the population] from a given sample population. It refers to the technique or the procedure the researcher would adopt in selecting items for the sample” (Kothari, 2004, p. 55). This study used the convenience sampling technique and subsequently the purposive sampling technique to select participants. Thus, participants who were available for an interview (convenience sampling) and possessed the characteristics or experiences considered vital in the study (purposive sampling) were enlisted In convenience sampling, “elements may be selected in the sample simply as they just happen to be situated, spatially or administratively, near to where the researcher is conducting the data collection.” (Alkassim & Tran, 2016, p. 2). Convenience sampling was used because it provided an easy access to potential participants. The purposive sampling technique involves “the deliberate choice of a participant due to the qualities the participant possesses.” (Alkassim & Tran, 2016, p. 2). Alkassim and Tran (2016) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 further explained that in the purposive sampling technique, the researcher sets out to include individuals who possess a particular knowledge or experience. In this study, it was essential that participants simply possessed knowledge about the existence of a pandemic dubbed Covid- 19 or Corona virus. Perhaps due to the ubiquity of Covid-19 information in Greater Accra, all the participants who were willing and available to be interviewed knew about Covid-19. The purposive sampling technique was used because only participants who possess knowledge about the existence of the Covid-19 pandemic or have experienced the pandemic could respond to questions such as views on Covid-19, effective treatment and prevention methods, and the verification of Covid-19 related information. The researcher purposively sampled conveniently available Ghanaians in Accra to be part of the study. Throughout the Greater Accra the researcher approached persons believed to be Ghana and informed such persons about the research and his desire to enlist them as participants after confirming that such persons are Ghanaians (Using various identity markers such as skin, among others, and asking such persons if they are Ghanaian). Upon confirming a Ghanaian identity and a desire from such persons to be part of the study, the researcher asked various preliminary questions to confirm if the potential participant knew or heard about Covid- 19. It was considered essential to confirm such knowledge because a participant oblivious to the existence of Covid-19 may be unable to adequate respond to the research questions. Upon such confirmation, the contact details of persons who had such knowledge and expressed a willingness to be part of the study were taken for further communication on the time and date for an interview. 3.6 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Participants in this study were included or excluded based on their knowledge/awareness of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the study is concerned with evaluating responses and actions of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 individuals to macro level directives on Covid-19, individuals who had no knowledge about the pandemic where not considered very useful sources of data. The study had a very rudimentary characterization of knowledge; it required that a participant knows that there is a Covid-19 pandemic and that there are certain recommended actions they are expected to pursue. Participants’ knowledge of the pandemic and its attendant regulations were assessed prior to the start of the interviews (during their briefing on the project). 3.7 Data Collection Instruments According to Mwandoba (2005, p. 138), “the data required to study experience require that they are derived from an intensive exploration with a participant.” In qualitative studies, interviews with participants is the most widely used technique of data collection (Mwandoba, 2005) due to its capacity to produce in-depth data about the experiences of participants. Mwandoba (2005, p. 142) notes that “the purpose of the interview is to gain a full and detailed account from an informant of the experience under study”. In this study, interviews were used as the primary means of data collection. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Semi-structured interviews “consist of several key questions that help to define the areas to be explored, but also allows the interviewer or interviewee to diverge in order to pursue an idea or response in more detail.” (Gill, Stewart, Treasure, & Chadwick, 2008, p. 291). Prior to the study, several questions were developed to help streamline participants’ responses in line with the objectives of this study. When participants’ responses contained ambiguity or required further elaboration, further questions were asked for the purposes of clarity. 3.8 Data Collection Procedures At the start of the data collection phase of this study which begun in June 2021, most of the in- depth interviews were conducted via a phone call. The initial use of the mobile phone as a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 medium of conducting the in-depth interviews was largely influenced by the restrictions on social gatherings and the movement of persons. In the later part of the data collection phase when restrictions on movement eased, face to face in-depth interviews was conducted with participants. Before the actual interviews, and to schedule an interview, the researcher made phone calls through the mobile numbers provided by participants during the sampling stage. When a suitable date and time was selected for an interview, the researcher contacted the participant again on the scheduled date and time for the interviews. At the start of each interview, a participant is thoroughly briefed about the purpose of the research, their consent was sought for their responses to be tape recorded, and they were informed that their data would be protected and kept confidential. The assurance of confidentiality and the protection of participants’ data was considered essential in getting participants to share reliable and valid information. It was envisioned that participants’ fears that data would be shared with law enforcement agencies could prevent them from divulging accurate information about their information verification practices, adherence to safety protocols, and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. The assurance of confidentiality seemed to ease participants’ fears. Participants were then asked about various demographic details such as their name, educational attainment, and whether they use social media. Whilst some participants answered all the questions in the demographic data section, some participants expressed discomfort about revealing information about their age and education attainments. For participants who answered all demography related questions and for those who expressed discomfort about answering, the researcher moved on with the interview primarily because their social media usage status was the most essential demographic characteristic. Participants were then asked University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 various questions about their knowledge on Covid-19, sources of information on the Covid-19 pandemic/virus, how they verify their information sources, the impacts of social relations on their evaluations on the veracity of Covid-19 information among others. Often, a response by a participant to a query demanded further interrogation and the researcher thus asked follow up questions on the responses of participants. The interviews were primarily conducted in English. However, participants at some point during the interview process spoke Twi (a local Ghanaian language) and/or pidgin. Based on the educational attainment of participants, questions in the interview guide were sometimes asked in Twi or pidgin to aid participant understanding. These non-English languages were later transcribed and translated into English for coding and analysis. 3.9 Data Analysis Analysis of qualitative primary data, generated using interviews and other collective data collection techniques, involves “conceptually interpreting the data set as a whole, using specific analytic strategies to transform the raw data into a new and coherent depiction of the thing being studied” (Thorne, 2000, p. 68). To analyse the transcribed data, the thematic network analytical tools were employed. According to Attride-Stirling (2001, p. 387), “thematic networks is simply a way of organizing a thematic analysis of qualitative data. Thematic analyses seek to unearth the themes salient in a text at different levels, and thematic networks aim to facilitate the structuring and depiction of these themes.” The process of conducting a thematic network analysis involves the extraction of lower-order premises (known as basic themes) from transcribed data, grouping similar lower-order premises or basic themes to form more abstract principles known as organizing themes, and these organizing themes are then grouped together to “present an argument, or a position or an assertion about a given issue or reality” (Attride-Stirling, 2001, p. 389). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 According to Attride- Stirling (2001), the first step in the analytical process of thematic network analysis involves coding the material using a coding frame. In this study, the interview guide served as the coding frame and transcript data was coded using this frame. In line with the interview guide, several tables were created in Microsoft Word to handle participants’ responses to various questions and the responses of participants on each interview question were extracted and placed into their corresponding tables. For instance, responses of all participants on information verification process were extracted and placed into a table containing only responses on information verification. The second step in the analytical process of thematic network analysis involves the generation of themes (Attride-Stirling, 2001). In each responses-table, the responses of participants were organized into various columns which served as themes. For instance, responses from participants which claimed that they verified information using internet searches were grouped under one/the same column in the information verification responses table. Column headings were dynamically developed when the responses from participants did not fit existing columns. The next step in the thematic network analytical process involves constructing the networks (Attride-Stirling, 2001). This step essentially involves grouping similar themes to form organizing themes and the organizing themes are summarized to form a global theme(s). In this study, four organizing themes emerged from the data (these themes were very similar to the specific objectives of this study due to the nature of the interview questions). The themes were: Information verification practices amongst social media users; information verification practices amongst non-social media users; knowledge, beliefs, and information about Covid-19; and adherence to Covid-19 safety protocols. A combination of these organizing themes gave rise to the global theme: Covid-19 and fake news in Ghana. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 Each theme in the network was then explored and described in detail using texts extracted from the transcripts. In discussing each theme, responses that best captured the general idea being communicated by the respondents were quoted verbatim and explanations were provided in instances where more clarity was needed. Attride-Stirling (2001) suggests that once the themes in the network are explored, the main themes and the patterns characterizing them should be summarized. In this study, the findings in each organizing theme were summarized and appropriately titled and the basic themes were organized under appropriate organizing themes. The last step in the analytical process of thematic analysis is the interpretation of patterns (Attride-Stirling, 2001). In chapter five of this study, data in each theme and the patterns in the data were discussed using relevant literature and theoretical frameworks. Data for this study was progressively coded as they were gathered and transcribed. After each interview, the interview audio was transcribed and responses were coded (sorted into response tables). The analysis of the coded data began at the end of all twenty interviews. 3.10 Ethical Considerations According to Orb, Eisenhauer, and Wynaden (2000, p. 3), “ethics pertains to doing good and avoiding harm. Harm can be prevented or reduced through the application of appropriate ethical principles. In this study, various mechanisms were taken to ensure the protection of participants and their data. First, the researcher ensured that the questions contained in the interview guide were safe for participants and had no ethical violations. The safety of the study and its conformity with ethical standards for research was confirmed through the attainment of ethical clearance from the Ethics Committee for Humanities at the University of Ghana. An ethics clearance number of ECH 097/20—21 was obtained from the ethics committee for this study. See appendix C for the Ethical Clearance. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 Prior to the interviews, participants were assured that their data and identity would be highly protected. They were also informed that should any part of the study make them feel uncomfortable, they could ask that the part be skipped or that they could withdraw from the study without any fear of reprisal. As a way of protecting the data obtained by participants during the interviews, the audio recordings were personally transcribed by the researcher and stored in a secured/password- protected storage device. In addition, the actual names of the participants were replaced with pseudonyms as a way of protecting their identity. Protection of identity was considered necessary as some participants clearly stated their violations of governmental safety protocols based on their subjective beliefs concerning the virus (its existence, effective treatment, and prevention methods among other). 3.11 Limitations of the Study This study had two limitations. The first limitation was that some potential participants, perhaps with more extreme and contentious views on Covid-19, refused to participate in the study because of a fear that the researcher was a government agent seeking to find persons who violate government safety protocols or knew about the “government’s plan”. In total four Ghanaians objected to being part of the study because of this fear. Although the researcher tried to convince these potential participants otherwise, such efforts proved futile. Despite this limitation, however, the participants who participated in this study provided enough data on nature of misinformation during Covid-19 and on verification practices. The second limitation in this study was that some participants may falsely claim that they verify information. From the perspective of social action theory (Parsons, 1937), this may be the case if participants realise that verifying information in the context of Covid-19 is a normative and imperative end others (including the researcher) expect them to pursue. Consequently, a participant who does not verify information may still falsely claim that they do to avoid costs such as chastisement among others. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 The theory of self-indication theory (Mead, 1934; Blumer, 1986) also offers a similar explanation. According to Mead (1934, p. xxiv), “a human individual can indicate to himself what the other person is going to do, and then to take his attitude on the basis of that indication” Thus, a possibility exists for a participant to indicate to himself or herself that the researcher would expect him or her to verify information, and claim to verify information even if that he or she does not. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 CHAPTER FOUR PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS 4.1 Introduction This chapter presents the findings from data generated from a sample of Ghanaian social media users and non-social media users that were interviewed in Accra, Ghana. The data was collected through in-depth interviews with participants over the telephone and in person. Generally, participants were asked about the various views they held about Covid-19; whether they verified those views prior to holding them as accurate; and how they proceeded with verifying information if they decided to verify. It is essential to note that the responses of participants presented in this chapter are mostly in tone and language of the participant, and minor edits were sometimes done to improve readability whilst maintaining the substance of the response. This chapter is divided into three main sections: the demographic characteristics of participants section, the social media users and Covid-19 section, and the non-social media users’ section. In the social media users and the non-social media users section, users were asked about their views and knowledge about Covid-19 in terms of causes and effective prevention and treatment methods. These questions were asked to discover what participants believed, whether accurate or inaccurate, before proceeding to explore how or whether they verified those pieces of information. Participants in each section were also asked about their sources of information as far as Covid-19 was concerned. These sources of information invariably influenced verification practices as some sources were considered more credible than others. Finally, participants in each section were asked about their verification practices. Participants under this subsection answered questions on when they choose to verify, how they proceeded with verification, and the impacts of verification on their belief or otherwise of the information they chose to verify. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 44 4.2 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Participants Participants were most young people with an average age of 32.15. The youngest participant was twenty-three years old whilst the oldest participant was fifty-seven years old. In total, nine of the participants were female whilst 11 were male. Amongst the participants who used social media, there were four female participants and six male participants. Amongst the participants who did not use social media, there were five male participants and five female participants. In terms of education status, participants were asked about their highest educational attainment. Figure 1: Highest Level of Education Most participants had a secondary education as their highest level of education. Especially for participants who did not use social media, a secondary education was the most common highest level of education. In addition, a Junior High School education was the second most common highest level of education for participants who did not use social media. All the participants who mentioned tertiary education as their highest level of education were social media users. Participants were asked about their highest level of education to explore if their educational background shaped the views they may accept as accurate, their evaluation of the ver